Improvement in ballot-boxes



v2 Sheets--Sheet 2" F. W. BRUKS.

Ballot-Box.

No, 159,890, Patented Feb.16,1'875. v

muunmhil FRANKLIN YV. BROOKS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL BALLOT-BOX COMPANY, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALLOTBOXES.

S pacification forming part of Letters Patent No.` 159,390, dated February 16, 1'875; application led January 9, 1875.

To all whom Ait may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN W. BROOKS, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ballot-Boxes, of which the following is a specilica tion My ballot-box is constructed with a glass hopper, for retaining the ballots in sight until itis desired to drop them into the place of 1in-al deposit, and with a system of slides which prevent any direct communication with the place of iinal deposit, either while the ballots are being first deposited in the hopper or when they are being transferred therefrom to the said nal receptacle. The box is further provided with an alarm-bell and hammer, so constructed and arranged as to give an alarm prior to the opening or complete withdrawal of either of the slides. .lt is also constl'nctiul with :tspring catch or catches, serving to lool: the slides in such a manner that they cannot be again unlocked until after the box has been opened.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a ballot-box illustrating my invention. Fig.2 is a vertical section ofthe boxtop and its accessories on the line 2 2, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an under-side view of the box-top with the bell removed. Fig. 4 is an under-side view with the bell and lower Works removed. Fig. 5 is an under-side view of a portion of the same parts shown in Fig. 4, representing the slides locked, as hereinafter described.

Arepresents the top or cover of a ballot-box, which, in practice, will be secured in its closed position by a lock of any suitable construction. B represents a receiving-hopper,constructed either Wholly of glass or with glass windows; but I prefer to construct it of glass, in cylindrical form, as illustrated in-Fig. 2, and in dotted outline in Fig. 1. It is held between the bed-plate C of my safety device and a metallic .cap, D, which is slotted at d to admit the ballots, and at d to permit the working of a lever, E, which latter is fulerumed at c within a vertical easing, F, to which one end of the cap D 1s permanently secured. 'lhe other end of the cap may be held by rods G G, either rivrespeetively, or

H repre- Which, when at rest, masks and eted to the cap and bed-plate, secured underneath by screw-nuts. sents a slide,

closes the openin g d, through which ballots are dropped. This slide is held and guided by a screw, h, or by rivets or lips of any suitable construction. The upper end of the lever E passes through a slot or opening in the slide LI, so as to withdraw the said slide and unmask the opening d, when desired. Vhen released, the lever E is thrown forward by a spring, I, carrying the slide H beneath the opening'. J represents another slide, constitutin g the bottom of the hopper I3, and serving to shut off any direct eolnmunieation with the main partof the box, or the place of final deposit. This slide is pivoted by its rear end to a lever-plate, K, fulcrumed'at k, and operated byaknob, L, to draw the plate J back to open the bottom ofthe hopper when desired. When released, it is thrown forward by a spring, S, so as to close the bottoni. l\l. .represents a bell, and N the hanin'nfr for striking it. This haminer is thrown forward by a spring', n, bearing against its heel in customary manner, and is retracted by means of a spriughook, O, attached to a camplate, P, which is pivoted centrall y over the hell, and is formed with slots or openings p p', t0 receive pins Q, and R, projecting, respectively, from the lower end of the leverE and from the under face of the lever-plate K, to which the knob L is attached. The slots p p are so formed as to cause the pins Q and :t to act upon the cam-plate I) when either slide II or J is retracted, and in such a manner as to cause the cam-plate hook O to release the hammer N prior to the uncovering of the respective openings,protected by the said slides. An alarm will thus be sounded before the hopper can be opened for the reception of a ballot, and also before the passage between the hopper and the place of final deposit can be opened. In order to prevent any simultaneous opening of the passages into the hopper, and from the hopper to the main box, the lever-plate K,whieh imparts the movement to the slide J, is formed with the peculiar I -sh aped slot T T', (shown in Fig. 4,) the curved portion T of which works over the lower part of the lever E, when the said lever is at rest and the plate K is operated to withdraw the slide J. The transverse p0rtion 'l of the said slot allows the necessary play of the lever E to enable it to'withdraw the slide I'I, While the plate K and slide J are in their normal position.

It will be apparent that a movement of the lever E to withdraw the slide TT, causing: the lower end of said lever to enter the transverse slot T', will effectually lock the lever-plate K until the lever ll returns to its normal position, when the slide H is necessarily closed. It will also be seen that a movement of the lever-plate K to Withdraw the slide J will cause the lever l?. to he eflectnally locked Within the curved slot T, so that the said lever cannot be moved until lille plnle l( is. released :mul restored |10 its normal position by the action of the springlr S.

U represen ts a transverse slidin g bolt pressed forward by a spring, u', but held in its retracted position by a spring-catch, V. The bolt U is provided with a knob, u, for retracting it, which knob projects downward from the under face of the box top or cover A, so as to be accessible only when the box is unlocked and open. The spring-catch 'V has a knob, fv, projecting upward through the box-top, so as to be accessible from the outside. When the bolt U is released by retracting the spring-catch V, the said holt is thrown forward by the ac tion of its spring u directly in front of the lower end of the lever E, so as to lock the said lever in its normal position and prevent its movement to withdraw the slide II. The same movement of the bolt U throws its knob u, or a lng formed upon it for this purpose, into a transverse notch, j, in the slide J, so as to lock the last-named slide, and thus prevent the movement of either ll or J until the box has been opened and the bolt U retracted.

The following is claimed as new 1. The hopperlfor retaining ballots in si ght until dropped, in combination with the slides H and J and slotted locking-plate, constructed and arranged substantially as herein set forth, to prevent a simultaneous retraction. el' the said slides.

2. 'lhe combination, with thc slides ll and J, ofthe alarm-bell and hammer and the eamplate P, constructed and operating substantially as set forth, to sound an alarm prior to the opening of either orifice protected by the said slides.

3. The spring-bolt U, catch V, and retracting-knobs u fu, arranged and operating as herein set forth, to lock the hopper slide or slides atwill, and prevent the unlocking thereof until the box has been opened'.

In testimony of Which invention I hereunto set my hand this 30th day of July, 1874.

FRANKLIN W. BROOKS.

Witnesses:

OcTAvrUs Kmelrr, WALTER ALLEN. 

